Pages

Copyright

No part of this site may be reproduced, or taken for personal use by any means without the Authors permission.

The workings on this site belong to the Authors and/or the Author 2 Author BC only, unless specified clearly.

Tuesday, 29 July 2014

A.E MURPHY Interview

Interview written July 2, 2014

PLEASE WELCOME THE BEAUTIFUL, BRILLIANT AND AMAZING WOMAN BEHIND THE
BROKEN SERIES

ALEXANDRA MURPHY

********

Hey Alex,

1, Tell us a little about yourself?

My name is Alex, I’m 23, I live in Grimsby in the

UK, and I have 2
gorgeous little children, a loving fiancé and an unhealthy obsession with
doughnuts and brownies.

2, how would you describe your book (s)?

I suppose quirky, light hearted and amusing would a way to describe my
first series (the ‘Little Bits’ series). Deep, dark and brooding would be how I
would describe Broken and Connected, my second series. They’re all
contemporary/New Adult romances but the series are quite different when
compared, I hope I succeeded in the changeover.

3, what genre is your work mainly? Do you tend to stay in the same vein
or are you hoping (if not already) to explore new ventures?

I want to work my way through all of them! I’ve got a few more in the
romance genre I’d like to complete, but eventually I want to move onto
Paranormal and then Sci-Fi and fantasy and horror. The choices are endless and
I have so many ideas I can’t wait to start.

4, Share with us a quote from one of your
favourite characters?

Oooh, I love this part from Broken (Broken #1). It’s silly but I love
it.

“What are you doing?” I ask,
paralysed by my fear. I shouldn’t have pushed him, I hardly know him. What if he
slaps me or chains me up in my room? What if he takes my bacon?

5, is it hard to come up with new ideas and / or plot’s?

For me it hasn’t been hard, I’m not just saying that either. I love to
write and I’m always thinking of new things to write. It gets genuinely
annoying sometimes. It’s worse at night when my head hits the pillow and suddenly
my brain is a flood of conversations and people and places. My phone notes
section is never neglected, that’s for sure.

6, how long does it take you to complete a finished book?

It depends really, home circumstances, work, kids, etc. Broken took me
about six weeks, Connected took me five; my others took a lot less. As I’ve
written more and more, I’ve learned to pace myself and my story telling. I hope
by now, one year later, I’ve improved.

7, what inspired you to write your book (s)?

I don’t know what originally inspired me as I’ve always written ever
since I was a young child. I suppose cartoons and reading are what gave my
imagination that kick start. Now though, I write for my readers, I love hearing
what they think and what they feel whilst reading something I created. It’s an
amazing feeling. Then there’s my kids, I want to give them a good future, I
want them to follow their dreams like I’m following mine, they inspire every
move I make.

8, who is the easiest character to write and why? Hardest and why?

I hate this question ha-ha! I was asked this question the other day and
I just sat there with my mouth hanging open like a moron. Luckily I’ve had time
to think about it since and I would say that Lucas from my book, “A Little Bit
of Trouble” was the hardest because he was the first male point of view I’d
ever written in and he is alpha male. It was difficult writing from the mind of
the opposite sex and it took a lot of strange questions to male friends and my
partner, but I got there in the end.

9, Are your characters based on real people? People you may know on TV /
Movie stars?

Not that I’m aware of. I do this weird thing where I’ll add a friends
name without even realising it, then my friends
will read and be all, “My name is in your book, but you’ve given it to a guy.”
This happened with my close friend Frankie in the first book A Little Bit of
Crazy. I’m not sure if she was elated that she was on my subconscious mind, or
insulted that she was used as a man. Oops.

Connected, the scene where certain people finally get it on in the best
way. I’d been so excited to write that part that when it was finally written, I
almost cried because I felt like, even though the characters aren’t real,
they’d had a major breakthrough. This was a good day for me.

11, what is up next for you?

I do have a few things lined up, but nothing solid as of yet. I want to
write a teacher/student romance and a BDSM novel and a zombie apocalypse novel
because I have an obsession with zombie books, games, movies, etc. I really
want to put my own twist on a lot of things, but we’ll see. Exciting!

12, do you have any hobbies?

Playing the Xbox, writing, reading, and cooking. All things I take
immense joy in and all things I do as and when I can.

13, is there anyone besides you in your family who writes?

My Nanna Mary is a great writer, but she hasn’t published anything which
is a shame because she really is very good and I really want her to share it
with the world.

14, When did you start? What was your first piece? First published
piece?

A Little Bit of Crazy was my first completed novel, the first in my
entire life. Before then I’d never finished a book before, I get bored easily
but once you finish one, it’s so much easier to finish the next and the next
and so on. The feeling is amazing and also sad; I find it hard to leave my
characters sometimes because in my mind they become, to a certain extent, real
people.

15, do you have any favourite books? Authors? Movies?

Lord of the Rings would have to be my
favourite movies. Books… I’m undecided on this one at the moment, I change my
mind frequently but at this point in time, it would have to be Transcendence by
Shay Savage. I loved this book with a passion. Kristen Ashley is my favourite author and has had the top spot for that for a while
now.

16, do you have a favourite character?

My favourite character… yikes… I
feel like I’m choosing between my kids hahaha. Umm… I’m going to have to say
Nathan from Broken and Connected. I love how strong he is, how sad he is and
how hard he works to get what he truly desires and deserves. He’s determined
and full of love. I loved writing him and I really hope people love reading
him.

17, what is your favourite genre to write?

Oooh, tough one, because I’ve been writing in the romance genre for a
while now so I haven’t had the chance to taste the others properly. I’m going
to say romance, but I guarantee when I move onto a different genre my answer
will change. I’m flaky, but it makes me cute. *Cheesy grin*.

18, what is your favourite genre to read?

It genuinely depends on the mood, but it’s a tie between romance and
paranormal.

19, how long have you been writing?

I remember winning a competition when I was about six or seven maybe
younger… I wrote a book about a witch and a boy defeating her by tipping over a
cauldron. I won the class prize and that is big stuff right there. Seriously
huge…

20, who or what has been your biggest literary influence?

Kristen Ashley, the way she just coughs out huge books that are amazing
with such ease. Whenever I get writers block I read something of hers and it
helps open the metaphorical creative floodgates.

21, How about characters? Are they easily born and developed?

Yes, definitely. I love making new characters and giving them quirks
that people can relate too. It’s one of my favourite things about writing.

22, do you ever find yourself a struggling writer?

Struggling as in money? I work and so do my partner, I write for fun so
I don’t tend to rely on my book profits, if any, to pay the bills. I think if I
did that, writing would become way too much pressure. I like to be free of
worries, so nope, I haven’t yet found myself in that position, thankfully.

23, have you ever trashed a novel or story before or after finishing it,
feeling it wasn’t turning out as you planned?

Oh yeah, over two hundred times. No joke. I have a hard drive full of
incomplete novels. Oopsy.

24, Do you have a special time or place to write?

On my couch, when I’m in the mood. I’ve never really written outside of
my home or relatives, so I haven’t had the joy of experiencing an amazing view
from a window by a desk, which totally sucks.

25, any funny experiences or quirks you’d like to share with your
readers?

I once wrote on my partner’s chest when he disposed of my notepad
during… ahem… research. I also got an amazing idea whilst shopping in Asda, I
was looking at Andrex toilet paper and literally squealed when an awesome
thought came to mind, and I also grabbed my partner (Ali) by the scruff of his
neck and growled in his face, “Take me home… Noooow.” It’s safe to say I’m not
surprised that after eight years he only just proposed to me. I’m a freak. It’s
awesome.

26, which of your books would you like to see made in to a movie?

Broken and Connected! Definitely. That would be amazing. A girl can
dream…. sigh.

27, what was it like to publish your first book?

Daunting. I don’t like to think about it, I think my mind blocked it
from my memory; all I can recall is the fear.

28, what advice would you give to others who want to make writing their
career?

Practice makes perfect, never quit. If at first you don’t succeed, try,
try, and try again. Also, if you love it, don’t make it about anybody else but
you but at the same time, always listen to criticism and take it gracefully
because it’s one of the best ways to learn. If it’s a pay cheque you’re waiting for, try to get that out of your head
because it genuinely doesn’t happen that way for like, 98% of authors. Writing
should be about the love and passion, money should always come last. Money is
poison to the brain and creativity.

29, what is the worst job that you have ever done and why?

I once worked in a chippy that put me off mushy peas. It has since
closed but let me tell you… that place was gross with a capital GR. Shudder.

30, do you ever get ideas at random moments, and if so how do you hang
on to them?

See question 26, this happens all the time and usually I’ll put them in
the notes file of my phone but if I have a book idea, I’ll write it in poem
form. I love reading poetry and it always triggers the same passion I felt when
I initially thought of the idea. Feel free to try this, it works for me.

31, how do you overcome writers block?

By smacking my head into a wall a hundred times. Honestly, I don’t know.
I used to have so many techniques, read a book, eat a lemon, drink a gallon of
coffee, drink an energy drink, watch funny videos on YouTube, etc. But it all
depends on my mood, my day and the novel I’m writing.

32, Can you write on demand and under pressure, or do you need time and
space before the creativity starts to flow?

I’m okay at writing under pressure, or so I’ve found out recently. So no
problems there. Although, my close friend Helen will definitely agree with me
when I say, I moan a hell of a lot. I don’t stop moaning about it. I’m all…
deadline, dates set, blah, blah, blah. I panic a lot too, because I’m a
terrible procrastinator. I leave the most important bits until the very last
minute and at that point you’ll find me staring at a map of the Amazon Forest,
looking for a decent place to settle, far away from technology and people.

On behalf of all the girls at author2author blog chat Thank you Alex
Murphy for an awesome interview.

Thanks so much for having me ladies at A2ABC xxx you’re all awesome!
<3 xxx